Differences
by I'm not nuts just Psyhco
Summary: It's said that curiosity killed the cat but that never stopped Sophia Marie DeLucas. Especially when the rumored sightings of the famous Opera Ghost are at an all time high. With the information she had gathered, she was sure that she could sneek into his lair and finally have legitimate proof that he existed, but she may get more than she planned for.
1. Running

She ran as fast as she could towards the prima donna's room. Rumors poured out of that room like water from a spring. Most of them were rather extravagant. Ranging from that being the place where the phantom took his female victims and took advantage of them, to more tame rumors such as, that was where the entrance to the Opera Ghost's lair was. Which was exactly why Sophie was sneaking out in the middle of the day, when she was supposed to be at rehesals. She needed to see for herself if what the other girls where whispering about held any truth. All of the sudden Sophie stumbled on something in the dark hallway down to the room that Carlotta used. Carlotta was a prima donna in every sense of the word. She was very conceited, tempermental, and belived her 'talent' to be unparalleled. She had heard that behind the full length mirror in said room, was a corridor that leads to the Opera Ghost's lair.

If what she found down there was truly the phantom she knew it could be be the last thing she ever saw, but she couldn't help herself. The temptation was truly impossible to resist. She continued to walk for a minute or two and found herself in front of the large wooden door, belonging to Carlotta. She slowly reached a trembling hand out to the handle and turned it to open the door. The room was covered in posters for all the performances that Carlotta had the lead female role in. The air was rich with some sort of French perfume. It smothered Sophie and her lungs coughed in protest. She walked the rather long distance (for a dressing room at least) from the door to the large ornate mirror. She ran her hands along the edges searching for some sort of latch or lever to open the mirror.

There. She mentally exclaimed. She kept quiet seeing as she really didn't fancy getting caught by the red haired opera queen. She lifted the tiny lever and heard a sort of machinery unlatch and she discovered that now she could easily push the mirror to the side and walk down what looked to be a dark, damp, stone passage. The thought of getting lost down there was enough to give her a moment's pause.

Come on Sophia. She thought. Don't be afraid. What's the worst that can be down there? Suddenly she heard the loud heavily accented voice that could only belong to Carlotta, echoing from the stage.

"These things do happen. For the past two years these things do happen. Until you stop these things from happening, this thing does not happen." This was quickly followed by her voice calling for her 'doggy'

Shoot. Sophie thought after some quick thinking she decided that she could either get caught by the obviously enraged diva or retreat to the dark corridor that might lead to the phantoms lair. The latter seemed like a safer option. She took a deep breath and started her way down the stone stairs. As she started down she felt the unnerving sensation of being watched. She shook it off blaming it on the adrenaline of almost being caught by Carlotta. She gathered her courage back up and continued on her way

Surely there must be another way out, she thought. She walked one stair at a time and held on to the railing as if the floor would give way. Suddenly, and very loudly in fact, a door slammed shut. It wasn't the dull thud a wooden door makes though. It was the sharp clang of a metal door and the click of a lock. The phantom. Panicking Sophie ran faster down the stairs, still keeping to the side. She could hear the footsteps behind her pick up and begin a fast paced chase down the stairway. Heart thumping, lungs struggling she finally reached the bottom of the stairs and saw a sort of lake. A crazed, desperate smile came across her face and she approached the water, knowing that every second that she wasn't running her chaser got closer. She took a deep breath and jumped. The splash of water never came. Instead she felt a large, clearly masculine hand around her throat. She just closed her eyes, knowing she had been caught.


	2. Caught

Frightened, Sophie forced her eyes open, remembering that she came exactly for this - to see the dreaded "Phantom of the Opera". She was surprised because he actually seemed rather attractive; but the well built body under the suave outfit that had caught her eye also made him more dangerous. He could easily kill her - or worse - down here; he could finish her against this wall right now. She looked up and noted the large white mask that covered part of his face. That's strange, she thought.

She was taken aback by the fury in his expression; he was burning with barely concealed rage. Her mind began to race, frantically searching for the right words to save her from her predicament.

"I am so sorry Monsieur! I didn't mean to intrude, I was simply in the prima donna's room, awaiting her return when-"

"Save your breath child." He tightened his grip and Sophie squeaked into silence. She was panicking. Her instinct was to claw, to dig at the hand against her neck; but she was too frightened at what he would do in reply. She settled for a defiant glare, looking him straight in the eyes. He smirked in amusement - she wouldn't be broken so easily. Sophie's eyes widened, filling with fear thinly disguised as rage, and the Phantom continued:

"I will ask you once, and only once: who are you? And how in God's name did you find this place?" Sophie started to speak, but found she could only gasp and sputter for air. The Phantom slightly released his grip. She took a deep, desperate breath, fighting the urge to wail and cry, her chest heaving. She felt as though she were about to faint.

"My name is Sophia DeLucas, I've lived here under the care of Madame Giry since I was seven. My mother was suffering from consumptio-" His grip tightened even more than before. Sophie tried to cry out from the pain, but no sound escaped her lips.

"I only asked for your name, and how you found this place. Nothing more." His smirk came back, this time with a tinge of anger and sadism. Tears began to stream down Sophie's face. No, not now! I can't let him see how frightened I am. Her heart was racing. The world was starting to swim around her. She tried to lift her arms, but they didn't seem to move. She panicked, sputtering and writhing, unable to escape his grasp. She fell to the ground. So this is how it ends. Underground, in a place no one will ever find her, at the hands of some insane masked man. Her ears were ringing. Her sight was fuzzy. Her head was about to lift from her shoulders and float away... and then darkness.

* * *

Sophie woke with a start, immediately gasping for air. She was horrified to see that she hadn't been dreaming; she could still see the vast underground lake in front of her. Her arms were suspended above her head. Chains.Damn it.

"Ready to tell me the rest of what I asked?" She looked around. She didn't see the Phantom anywhere, but it was unmistakably his voice. He sounded amused.

"The other girls in the opera house, they told me. As for who told them I haven't got a clue. And even if I did I wouldn't tell a monster like you." She spat defiantly. She should have been terrified, but instead she felt emboldened, almost daring him to kill her.

"You try my patience girl. Now... what to do... I'll give you a choice." He suddenly appeared in the corner of Sophie's eye, a deranged grin stretched across his face as he walked over. "You can either go back up the way you came and tell nobody about what or who you found down here, or you can life the rest of your life wandering around the dark underground labyrinth of the Opéra Populaire. It's your choice."

Sophie began to speak but the Opera Ghost quickly covered her mouth.

"Ah, ah... No need to say anything. How about nod once to stay, and twice to go?" He seemed genuinely delighted in making her submit to him. She glared at him fiercely, nodding twice.

In a quick swoosh, everything went black for a moment, her chains unlocked, she was free, and the Phantom was gone.

"Have a nice life, Ms. DeLucas." His voice echoed calmly through the caverns.

How? She thought. Her shock at what just happened was enough to make her get up and scramble back up the stairs. Upon seeing the mirror-door she noticed that it was transparent, like a window. She could see that Carlotta was still there, getting ready for bed. She waited, exasperated, for her to fall asleep.

She wasn't sure how long had passed before Carlotta's breathing became rhythmic enough to signal that she was fast asleep. Sophie stood up, groaning as she stretched her stiff muscles. She slowly unlatched the lock so that there was no way it would awake the sleeping opera queen. One foot at a time she padded out of the secret door and across the room to the large wooden exit. Finally escaping Carlotta's room, she ran through the opera house into the room that she shared with her long-time friend Meg Giry, and a few other girls. Arriving at the door she quietly opened it, stepped through, and closed it. She walked across the room and into the rather small bunk that she shared with Meg. She felt so relieved to finally be safe in her bed, but the entire night, until she fell asleep she felt as if someone was watching her.


	3. Auditions

"Sophie "A voice was drawing her out of unconsciousness

"Sophie" Maybe if I don't move it will go away. She thought as she kept her breathing at the same pace.

"SOPHIA MARIE GET YOUR BUTT UP NOW" Ok that's it. She thought. Still barely moving she got a better hold of her pillow and swung it viscously at the voice.

"Merde. What was that for?" Sophie groggily looked up at the voice that woke her and saw it was Meg. She was leaning upside down from the top of her mattress. Sophie childishly stuck her tongue out at her annoying blond friend. Her friend smiled evilly, like she had something up her sleeve.

"Meg." She said accusingly "What have you been up to" The little fairy like girl went red in the face and looked around sheepishly.

"Well I heard from Margot who heard from Rose who overheard Elisabeth and Genevieve discussing the upcoming performance. They say that instead of all of the usual singing they want to do a ballet. So I went to Monsieur Lefèvre and persuaded him to let you audition for Farfalla, the lead role." Meg looked very proud of herself for what she had done. Sophie was speechless. Meg had always been like a sister to her but was always loyal to Christine, and always tried to help the attention seeking, brown-haired, harlot.

"Thank you Meg but," She wiped the hair out of her face. "Why would you do something like that for me. What about Christine." She spat out the name like poison. Meg knew of her friends distaste for Christine, but never could understand why.

"Because dear Sophie, Christine is a singer not a dancer, and from what I've heard you would be perfectly fitted for the part. Farfalla needs to be light and graceful, like a butterfly." She was oddly excited about this for some reason. Sophie sighed in resignation. She just couldn't bring herself to say no to the happy little ballerina hanging above her.

"Alright, I'll do it, but don't get too excited about it. I highly doubt I'll make it." If one looked at Meg Giry they would think she just became the happiest girl in France. Her smile was as big as the moon. Meg hopped down off the bunk and hugged her friend tightly.

"Oh thank you thank you thank you. You won't regret this I promise. You will get the part, you'll see." The elated blonde looked at the clock behind their bed and her smile dimmed. "But if we don't get to the stage in ten minutes this will all be pointless." She said. She was suddenly throwing different parts of a tutu at Sophie and told her to 'get her sleepy but dressed'. Sophie took her night clothes off and began to put the terrible torture machine on, or as all of the other girls called it, the corset.

"Meg, Come tie this please" Sophie heard the shuffling of her little feet and suddenly felt as if all the air had gone from her lungs.

"Watch it Meg. Don't break me" She gasped.

"There," Meg said quickly "Now put this on." She commanded while tossing the bottom to Sophie. Once she was dressed Meg dragged her to the stage just as the auditions started.

"Monsieur Reyer, I have Sophie." Meg said to the older man. He looked at Sophie approvingly.  
"Well you look right for the part, but the question remains. Can you dance?" he gestured to the orchestra to begin playing and the stage cleared of all the other young girls hoping to get the part.

Sophia closed her eyes and felt the music. It was very easy for someone to just jump, spin and skip to music, but to translate the music into dance was another thing completely. After a few minutes the music stopped and Sophie opened her eyes. She was the only one there with the exception of Monsieur Reyer and Meg. She stood catching her breath and waited for the decision.

"Very well, that will do for now. You may go to practice with Madame Giry and the other girls."

She was very confused. Did she get the part? Did she do something wrong? It was quite possible that was the most confusing moment of her life. Meg tapped her shoulder.

"Sophie I need to go talk to maman. I will tell her all about it. Oh I really do hope you get the part.'' The little blonde skipped off the stage, leaving Sophie all alone. She just stood there, confused, and mildly suspicious. Why didn't Meg try out? She had wanted to star in a production since she was a child. That was all she ever talked about. It was always 'When I'm the prima ballerina' this and 'when I'm the prima ballerina' that. It actually got a bit irritating. So when Meg was happy that she had a chance to get a major part in a ballet, well it was very unexpected.  
Sophie began her walk down the cold marble halls of the Opera Populaire the memory of the night before playing in her mind. Why did he let her go? From what she had heard he never lets his victims go. Oh well stranger things had happened before, and it would not do any good to dwell on the past. Besides, it could have very well been a dream. Right?  
She decided that a quick bath wouldn't hurt. She walked down the halls and into the bathroom. She turned to look in the mirror for no reason at all really, but what she saw was shocking. There was a large hand shaped bruise on her neck. She began to go over the events that she had previously just thought was a bad nightmare. The stairs, the lake, the wall, the chains, she looked down at her wrists. Sure enough there were angry red welts on them. She continued to try and remember. The mask, the man, the phantom. _The Phantom_. He was real, he existed. A smile grew on her face. He couldn't touch her up here. There were too many people and she had already escaped once, so she knew the way out if he kidnapped her again. She ran out if the washroom and desperately tried to find Meg. She was almost to Madame Giry's room when she ran face first into a body.  
" Oh Sophie, I'm so sorry I didn't see you there." No, not that voice. She knew exactly who that voice belonged to and it was her least favorite person in the world.  
"It's quite alright Christine," She said in a sickly sweet voice. "No harm done." Christine smiled in a way that made her stomach cave in on itself and try to push the remnants of yesterday's dinner back up.  
"Great, well I'll see you later I need to go…do something." Christine walked off a little too quickly for Sophie not to be a little bit curious. She decided that it wouldn't kill her, so she followed her. What harm ever came from making sure one of your…well… acquaintances, were safe. Following Christine led her behind the stage, up a flight of spiral stairs, down a hallway and to a large door. Sophie stood with her ear pressed against the cold wood and strained to hear what was going on in there.  
"Angel, Angel can you hear me?" Christine whispered. Angel, like a real angel, Sophie wondered.  
"Yes, I am here." That voice, where had she heard that voice? No. it can't be. Christine was talking to the opera ghost. Christine was talking to the same man that had held her against a wall, rendered her unconscious, and chained her up, and calling him angel at that. Sophie was shocked into utter silence. She stepped away from the door and padded quietly down the path that she came from. She had to tell someone.


	4. Notes

Sophie ran as fast as she could towards Madame Giry's room. Christine was talking to the Phantom. No, better yet the phantom was talking to Christine. Not threatening, not hurting, talking. What made her so special? Was it her voice? Yes, Sophie may have hated the girl, but even she had to admit that Christine had a beautiful voice. She had imagined, on many occasions, that there was some way to steal her voice, like the little mermaid. It was a story that her mother told her before she fell ill. The little mermaid gave her voice to the sea witch in order to be human and have a chance to marry a prince that she fell in love with. Honestly she doubted Christine would have any appeal towards men without her voice, or towards anyone for that matter.

Christine always got the attention in the Opera Populaire. Whether it is from Madame Giry, Meg, or any of the other girls, Sophia DeLucas always came after Christine Daaé, always living in the shadow of the poor unfortunate little Christine, or as Sophie liked to call her, the petite pute.

Meg constantly tells Sophie How cruel she is being to Christine without any reason. Sophie would give her the same excuse each time, 'It was none of her business'.

Once Sophie's older brother, Charles, came down from Cambridge University where he was attending college. It was a surprise visit, so she was very happy to see him. A couple nights later she heard that Christine and her dear brother were seen sneaking out of the opera house late at night. The following day Sophie got a letter from him. It was short and to the point, He had left. He said that Christine had cornered him and seduced him, so he left as soon as possible. He must have been too ashamed of himself to face her after what he had done. At the time Christine was her best friend. The day that Charles left Christine acted as if nothing had happened. She continued to be Sophie's friend and never even so much as hinted to what she had done. After waiting for a month for Christine to tell her Sophie confronted her about it. The conversation had started very politely but turned into Christine calling her a jealous child that would always live in the shadows, never being anything important. So a year later when Sophie began to take singing lessons, Christine suddenly began taking them too, from an unknown teacher, and progressed much faster.

Sophie eventually found something that she was better than her at, dancing. Dance had helped her throughout her life, it gave her things to look forward to. Plays, Operas, any production that had a dance routine in it, brought a smile to her face, and put a spring in her step, And now she had a chance to be recognized for it, along with the chance to expose the phantom to everyone, well that just about made her the most excited girl on earth.

She ran down the spiraling stairs and came to a fork in her path. Sophie just went with her instinct and went left. After a few minutes of pointless wandering she decided to just sit down and think, maybe if she just stayed in one spot long enough somebody will find her. She crouched against the wall and laid her head back against the cold Marble. With her eyes already closed it didn't take long for her to fall asleep.

Slowly Sophie registered an aching in her back. She opened her eyes and saw absolute blackness. She reached her hand up and felt the cold stone wall. A feeling of panic began to form in her chest. She looked around in the dark and saw a little sliver of light. With one hand pressed against the wall she began to walk towards it. Suddenly something scurried past her feet. Oh, Mice. Great. She thought sarcastically. She walked a little more quickly towards the light, praying that it wasn't as far off as it looked.

After a while of walking blindly in the dark she finally arrived at a little candle. A small smile came across her face, maybe now the dark wouldn't be so frightening. With the candle in her grasp she began to look around. Now that she could see a bit better she became a bit more concerned. There were no doors, or any way of figuring out where she was. In the nine years she had lived here, never had she been in this part of the opera house. Or maybe she had and just couldn't tell in the dark. Either way she really needed to find her way back to the dormitory. She walked quickly down the unfamiliar hall. She occasionally looked down at her feet, Checking for more little mice. About the fifth time she did she noticed an envelope. She scrunched her forehead in confusion at the object. Now what are you doing here. She wondered. She bent down to pick it up and saw it was addressed to her.

"Well that's a bit strange." She said to no one. She slipped her finger down between the flap of the envelope and the paper itself. It ripped open rather easily. As she began reading She started to feel sick.

Miss DeLucas,

It is rude to eavesdrop on other peoples conversations. Didn't your mother teach you your manners? If I were you I would keep what I learned to myself. If you do not you may find yourself unable to perform in the upcoming ballet, and that would be most inconvenient.

O.G

These little notes may have left Monsieur Lefèvre shaking in his shoes, but Sophie was not scared of a piece of parchment. She folded the paper up and held it above the flame. Once it caught fire she tossed it on the ground and waited for it to finish burning. If nobody found it, it never happened. The flame died down, she continued on her way.

After what seemed like hours of wandering she found herself in the center of the Stage. She smiled with relief. From here she could find her room with her eyes had only taken a few steps across the stage when something caught her eye, a sliver of a white mask up where box five should be, the only seat that was never sold. Meg said that the phantom watched all of the productions from that seat. Sophie shook her head and blamed it on her sleep deprived imagination. I'm just tired. She thought. Even though she didn't believe that he was up there watching her, her feet moved a little faster towards the dormitory. When she arrived at the door she felt safer than she had all night. She slipped in the room and went to her bed, but as she went to blow out the candle she noticed the little desk at the end of the room. The desk gave her an idea. A stupid, crazy idea, but an idea nonetheless. She walked over to the poorly constructed desk and sat down on the wooden chair. With a sheet of paper in front of her and a pencil in hand she wrote a quick reply to the phantom.

Monsieur Phantom,

Although I appreciate the time that you took out of your pathetic life to write me that letter, I must say that although you may intimidate Monsieur Lefèvre through these notes, your pieces of paper do not scare me.

-Sophia DeLucas

She folded the paper and took it along with the candle to her and Meg's bunk bed. She put the paper beneath her pillow with the intention of delivering it behind the mirror that lead to the phantom's lair tomorrow. She laid down, pulled up the covers, blew out the candle, and drifted asleep, dreaming of white masks and mazes.

Early the next morning, just as the sun was rising, Sophie became aware of something sharp jabbing at her cheek. she sleepily lifted a hand to swipe it away and found that it was the letter that she had written to the phantom the night before. A little smile came across her face at the thought of the phantoms reaction to her little note. Would he come take her again, would he let her go if he did, maybe he would. No. She scolded herself. It will do you no good to start worrying about the consequences now. She quietly slipped off her thick wool blanket and padded over to the door. Hopefully nobody would be awake yet and she wouldn't have to worry about being caught in her night clothes. That would make for an interesting conversation. Trying to convince a stagehand, janitor, or worse, Madame Giry. The very thought of that little womans rage was enough to send her back to her room if she wasn't so determined. The Prima Donna room should be empty, Carlotta slept with her fiance on monday nights. God only knows what they do on those frequent nights. Sophie about vomited to think about it.

Realizing that she had arrived at her destination, she cleared her thoughts and listened closely for any sound of breathing in the room. She found none. She opened the door and scurried over to the mirror, nudged the lever with her hand and slipped through.

Once through she debated on whether to leave the note here, or to put it down by the lake. The latter was sure to irritate him the most, it would invade his privacy much more, and then he might not underestimate her abilities. If someone got that close to her without her noticing she would be concerned, irritated, and would respect them much more. She decided on the one that was sure to upset him the most. She ran quietly down the stairs keeping to the side like last time, and eventually arrived at the end. She started to approach the foggy lake when suddenly her foot was swept out from underneath her, she felt a hard pain on the back of her head and saw that the lake was now on the roof. She had just enough time to realize that she was the one upside down before the pain in her head overcame her and her world went black.


	5. Down Once More

Chapter Five: Down Once More.

The phantom paced around his dimly lit lair, wondering how he was going to handle this little issue. It was getting progressively harder to focus on Christine, when he was looking behind him every five minutes to make sure he wasn't being followed. Twice now he had returned to his lair and found her sneaking around. He assumed that after the first time she would be to frightened to even think about returning .Obviously that was not the case. She even had the audacity to eavesdrop on Christine and his private conversation. Granted he was certain that she heard nothing of value, but what irritated him was that she was going to run of to tell Madame Giry about it. Now, the old woman was the only one who knew about him teaching Christine, she didn't mind much, she just told him not to take it to far. Now that the girl knew about it, they could be caught any moment. Now, just to add to the stress, his manager is retiring. He probably had enough of the red haired diva's antics. He is to be replaced by to imbeciles who have had good luck in the junk business. And to make matters even worse their patron is the very vicomte that his Christine was in love with as a child. Now not only is his possibility of finally having her fall in love with him at risk, but as is her singing career if she gets distracted by him.  
He snatched up a figurine and threw it at the nearest mirror,shattering it into a billion pieces.  
Shit. He exclaimed. The glass flew everywhere  
"She will regret ever meeting the Phantom of The Opera." A little gasp interupted his idle threats. She was awake. And now was the best time to try to get rid of her for good. He put his mask back on the deformed side of his face, he tended to look more threatening with it covered rather then out for the world to see. When exposed It made people pity him. He never sought pity, only companionship, But that desire was long gone. He soon realized that when you were feared you were much more respected then if you were we'll liked. He took a deep breath to clear his thoughts to be sure he could confront her without harming her. Contrary to popular beleif he took no pleasure In killing, it was just the simplest way to fix a problem. And even if somebody told the police who killed the person, well, who would belive that it was a 'phantom'. More than likely they would just laugh at the person and tell them to go tell their stories elsewhere. Which is why, he still prefers terrorism to actual murder. He lived to see the fear in their eyes when he threatened them or the panic when he caused a catastrophe. Like last night, when he collapsed a scene background on top of the diva herself, He had smiled sadisticly from his hiding spot in box five. Seeing their faces looking around for the perpetrator and finding no one, was something he would never tire of. They immediately called for the stage manager Buquet and demanded to know what was going on up there . To which he responded that it must have been a ghost. That caused everyone to look frantically for it. The new managers, who he expected to be just as scared as the others, merely laughed at the reactions and tried to convince the others that it was nothing more than a really bad joke. Carlotta stormed off and they were in a panic trying to find a replacement for her. So they were of course outraged when Madame Giry read his 'welcome letter' to them. He had never seen two faces go that red with rage, not even his own. It's not like he asked for anything absurd. Only his continued 20,000 francs a month and that they continue to leave box five at his disposal. Giry informed them of Christine's perfect ability to sing the aria that the insane woman was going to recite before she left. She did brilliantly of course, and got the part he knew she was destined to get. But then he returns to his lair to find the door open and a strange girl by his lake. he should have killed her right then and there but he decided to put the fear of god into her by knocking her out, chaining her up, and and giving her the choice few have had, to leave quietly. But he didn't recognize his own strengin those moments and when he tightened the rope around her neck to make her pass out again he noticed a light handprint around her throat. He quickly grabbed a cream that one of is very few friends had brought him for his burns. The man also told him that it would help fade bruises a bit. He evenly applied it to her neck before calling Madame Giry to clear the way for him so that he could dump her on the stage, that of course was his original plan. Of course the old woman gave him a threatening glare that only a mother, or in this case a mother like figure, could pull off. He replied in an equally threatening voice that she needs to keep her dancers in check and to keep them from gossiping about him. He picked the girl up and told the woman to clear the way to the stage he would leave her there to wake up. He ended up carrying her all the way to her room. It was just easier that way. She would pass this all off as a dream and never come looking for him again. at least, thats what he hoped. His plan of course failed. She remembered it all quite well and was even brave enough to bring her note all the way down to lair. That was the second time she had invaded his lair, and the third time she invaded his privacy.  
Sophie's POV  
A voice slowly invaded Sophie's peaceful sleep. "Irritating... Disrespectful... No concept of personal space... Need to get .. of..." Why is there a man in the dormitories. She thought to herself. Madame Giry will have a fit.  
"Distracting...Christine. " Wait, did he say Christine. Her name threw a truckload of memories right back in her face. Notes. The phantom threatened her. She wrote him a note telling him that he didn't scare her. Taking the note back to the underground lake. But she couldn't, for anything, recall going back up. Then a dull ache on the back of her head reminded her that she ended up upside down.  
Merde. She whispered to herself. She got caught. Again. God knows he will be very angry. Who knows what will happen to her. Would he kill her when he saw she had woken up . She started to panic and look around the strangely decorated room. this was not the dormitories it was much darker. there was no windows, just red curtains covering walls. She could hear the man much more clearly now. He was ranting about something. She quietly lifted herself out of bed one leg at a time, praying that she wouldn't alert him. Once she was out of the bed she began to walk around the little room, which was only separated from the other by a sheer curtain . She turned around, facing away from the makeshift doorway and saw that there was what looked to be a hollow place in the wall covered by another curtain. she walked toward it and pulled the fabric aside. She let out a gasp of shock. There, behind the heavy cloth was a life size statue of Christine wearing a wedding dress made of beautiful white cotton. It was all there. The shoes, the veil, the corset. Everything. What was this man doing with this?  
How did Christine know him? What were his intentions with Christine? What would he do with her?  
Suddenly, everything started to click into place. There were no windows because she was underground. She was still in the phantoms lair. And he was right on the other side of the curtain. She was trapped. There was no way out. Then she heard a throat clear. She spun around and saw the white mask of the phantom. And on the opposite side was a beautiful face distorted by an ugly smirk.  
He took a deep breath.  
"Didn't anyone tell you not to look in other people's things. "  
She started to apologize and beg him to let her go but he began to advance on her.  
"You have listened to my most private conversations. You have invaded my privacy. You continue to blatantly deny me when I was so lenient to let you go the first time. And when I found you sleeping in that hallway after you ran to tell Madame Giry about Christine's conversation with me I could have easily killed you without a second thought or an ounce of regret. I have been merciful so far and you are spreading it very thin." By this time she was once again cornered by the mad man. But this time, she would not go down without a fight. She looked right in his eyes which were clouded with rage. She raised her head high and took a long breath.  
" Monsieur Phantom, you cannot expect me to not be the least bit curious as to why you are taking your time with her. I appreciate you not killing me, but you have to realize that I will keep coming back until I get what I want. " Her heart was pounding in her ears and her every sense was heightened. She could feel his breath washing over her face. She could see every emotion flash across his face. Rage. Irritation. His control was slipping. She used this opportunity to dart to the side. He spun around and grabbed her by her hair.  
"You have out stayed your welcome. I specifically told you to never come back here, And yet you do. You are the most infuriating, disobedient, child I have ever-"  
"I am not a child. " She yelled. She was tired of being treated like a 6 year old.  
"You are to me. You are a child who doesn't know when to step down. " His body was shaking.  
That was it for Sophie. She balled up her hand into a fist and swung at him. She landed a pretty good shot for never punching anyone before.  
"You little bitch. " he momentarily released her hair to hold the spot her fist hit on his face. She took that moment to run as fast as she could out of that room. Everything was blurry. She ran up a couple stairs and glanced back and saw he was in close pursuit. She sprinted past an organ. And was then faced with a similar situation as she was in a few days ago. She had to jump in the lake again. She looked across and saw it was quite far. But she had too. With a final breath she jumped into the freezing lake and swam like her life depended on it. She could feel the cold in deep in her bones every stroke was getting harder. But she kept going.  
Just a little farther.  
Just a little bit more. She kept chanting to herself. But after mere minutes she just couldn't do it any more. She felt a warm dark fog approach. She felt heavy. She couldn't move any of her limbs. She started to panic. This can't be the end, she thought. Not now. Then out of the darkness, she felt two arms grab her torso and drag her up on what felt like a wooden boat. Then she felt nothing. Once again she had passed out.

A.N. Hiya, I have some terrible terrible news. I have a truckload of very important tests every day next week, so I have no clue when I will be able to continue the story. I will probably do it sometime next weekend.


End file.
